By Joshua Nahamya,
Mbarara.
Uganda Coffee development authority (UCDA), the country’s leading coffee agency targets increasing Middle East coffee exports.
This was revealed during the 2020 Dubai Expo that is going on in UCDA participation in the Dubai Expo.
The Dubai Expo 2020 is a globally recognized trade Expo hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2021.
The event was originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was however postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 192 Countries, including Uganda, are participating in this year’s World Trade Expo that stretches for about 182 days under the theme: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.
According to Doreen Rweihangwe, Ag. Director Quality and Regulatory Services, the 2020 Expo is an opportunity to deepen the penetration of Uganda coffee in the UAE market and the Middle East in general.
She said that Uganda’s coffee stall is doing well at the ongoing Dubai Expo.
“Our target is to export 1.5 m bags of coffee in the Middle East by 2025 because we have done it before in the Milan Expo in 2015 when India was dominating the Italian market. By April 2020, Uganda displaced India in exporting coffee to Italy”. She explained
According to UCDA statistics, coffee exports to the Middle East are 217,519 bags of 60 kg which constitute 2.10% of total coffee exports in FY2020/21 up from 30,934 bags or 0.74% of exports in FY2016/17. Of these, coffee exports to UAE in FY2020/21 were 3,526 bags.
Also, in a statement shared on Twitter, UCDA says Uganda has been categorized in the opportunity group and is keen on conquering the UAE (United Arab Emirates) market.
“UCDA will take the opportunity of having one of the best quality coffees globally to deepen the entry in middle east market,” reads UCDA’s tweet
Hon Chris Baryomunsi, the ICT-Minister, also tweeted that the 2020 Dubai expo is Uganda’s opportunity to penetrate the investment opportunities
He however lashed at the country’s critics saying that the government’s target audience is the foreigners who are happy with Uganda’s display.
And in another tweet, Edward Kazire, the proprietor of Kazire products while meeting potential partners at the expo, intends to export natural drinks and herbal pharmaceutical drugs to Dubai.
Besides government delegations, the Private Sector was also considered under the Presidential CEOs’ Forum (PCF), a newly created umbrella aimed at linking the private sector leadership.
CEOs from corporate institutions and government executives to contribute to the national development agenda were invited to represent Uganda’s pavilion.
And the Private companies which represented Uganda include; Kazire Health Products, Uganda Manufacturers Association, Numa Feeds LTD, Uga Chick Poultry Breeders LTD, Nile Plastic Industries, Private Sector Forum, Steel and Tube Industries LTD among others.
